We achieve a particularly high impact on:
Managing our
social impact
Our approach to sustainability focuses equally on our environmental impact and on caring for all the people within our company and the communities where we act.
The backbone of our success is built on employees and suppliers who are both highly-skilled and well-motivated. We’re constantly striving to offer the best possible working conditions for our people, while also accepting the social responsibility we bear beyond our own company.
"Establishing responsible and transparent traceable supply chains is an important basis for our business. In the process, we focus on our human rights obligations to our employees and partners worldwide – in line with the global sustainability objectives SDG 8, humane work and economic growth – in addition to our resource-efficient and resource-friendly approach to nature. Beyond our voluntary commitment, we are actively supporting a legal basis in the form of a supply chain act and welcome recent policy developments on the subject."
Dr. Helmut Frieden, Corporate Sustainability
Working together for human rights
Symrise is involved in the Initiative for Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains (INA) and in July 2020 issued a joint statement in favor of the German government drafting a national supply chain act based on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the National Action Plan for Business and Human Rights (NAP). In the alliance, a total of 33 companies and organizations are campaigning for binding human rights due diligence requirements for companies along their supply chains – and thus for greater legal certainty and a level playing field that goes beyond voluntary initiatives.
Sustainability along the value chain – focus on human rights
Natural raw materials often form the basis of our products – and our long-term business success. When it comes to sourcing, we rely on an environment rich in biodiversity as well as the collaboration and trust of local communities and small-scale farmers. This is closely linked to respecting human rights and ensuring humane working conditions. Symrise is expressly committed to respecting human rights and ensuring humane working conditions: see our responsible procurement policy and the declaration on human trafficking and slavery. Our suppliers must sign a code of conduct for this purpose, which includes factors such as human rights, the environment, health and safety, and integrity, in addition to transparent disclosures on the source of raw materials.
Innovation is a core competence of our business. Every day, our employees and partners around the world create the basis for new, sustainably successful products and consumption patterns through the productive use of environmentally friendly chemistry and new technologies, as well as resource-efficient manufacturing. The Product Sustainability Scorecard illustrates this progress. Diversity in our teams, equal treatment and equal participation of our employees are key for us. The integrated management system of our HR policy is based on the requirements of the Group-wide binding Social Accountability 8000 (SA 8000) standard, which is based on the conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
We work to meet evolving customer and consumer trends for natural, nutritious ingredients and products manufactured under fair conditions as responsibly and effectively as possible through our product solutions. Through Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) guidelines, independent testing and certification, we also ensure the highest product safety and quality standards for customers and consumers.
Developing and advancing our employees
To provide excellence and opportunities for our employees, we know we must also give them a voice. 5,400 employees provided feedback to us in our Symrise Employee Engagement Survey (with a participation rate of 80 % in the countries involved).
The positive feedback was overwhelming: 90 % are very satisfied or at least satisfied in their jobs, while 95 % say they would accept their job again without hesitation.
While we’re proud of our achievements in this respect, we know that there are always improvements to be made. By being open, proactive and listening to our people, we’re able to make positive change wherever it’s needed. We’re taking action not only for our current employees, but for the future talents of Symrise who will ensure our continued success.
Promoting diversity
and equality
We’re a globally minded company that believes diverse perspectives lead to innovative solutions.
We source, produce, manufacture and market our products all over the world, and our expansive, international operations are reflected in the people we employ. We thrive on the different ethnic, cultural, religious, gender and age backgrounds of our employees – we want our products to be for all people, created by a diverse workforce.
With more than 12,000 employees serving roughly 160 countries, doing business with other companies in other countries, with different cultures and customs, it’s vital that we have a common basis from which to work. This is where our Code of Conduct comes in.
We have also signed the Women’s Empowerment Principles. With this move, we want to send a clear signal to our global organization that we stand for gender equality in our workplace.
Meaningful health
and safety measures
Like all companies, we’re faced with numerous challenges when it comes to ensuring the health and safety of all our employees.
We’re convinced that a zero-accident culture is achievable with an approach that is proactive rather than simply reactive:
- A focus on the cause of injuries rather than just the number
- Clear strategies to identify and correct unsafe conditions/actions
- A system that doesn’t encourage the non-reporting of injuries
Symrise has launched the comprehensive “Drive to 100 % Safety” campaign in Holzminden as a pilot project of subsidiary TESIUM. The campaign is designed to present employees with an emotional depiction of the importance of observing safety regulations and acting thoughtfully.
